Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana: Revenant Subrace, Monster Hunter, and Inquisitive

There's a new Unearthed Arcana up from WotC's Mike Mearls, and this month it looks at Gothic Options for your D&D game, supplementing the themes of the recently released Curse of Strahd. The Revenant is a new sub race which can be applied to any existing race, the Monster Hunter is a fighter archetype, and the Inquisitive is an archetype for rogues who excel at solving mysteries. "This month, Unearthed Arcana takes a look at a few new character options appropriate to gothic horror.The revenant subrace provides an interesting way to bring a character back from the dead—a useful option if you’ve lost a character in the mists of Barovia. The Monster Hunter and the Inquisitive are two new archetypes for the fighter and rogue, respectively, well suited to the challenges of Ravenloft or any other gothic horror campaign."

​

Find the 3-page PDF here!

SaveSave​

 

[MechaTarrasque]

I think this speaks more to the fact that the ranger lacks a clear design goal as opposed to the fighter stealing its lunch. All the ranger variations we've seen make me believe it's easier to tweak the fighter slightly to give it some wilderness survival abilities than creating an entire class around that concept.

I was kind of thinking that a good design idea for the ranger might be "int-based melee", basically the guy who knows stuff and uses it in combat (and dabbles in a little magic), but the monster hunter fits that pretty well. My thought was that hunters sometimes get big into really studying their preferred prey (my brother just took up duck hunting, and I have learned more about ducks then I ever wanted).

 

[Azurewraith]

I was kind of thinking that a good design idea for the ranger might be "int-based melee", basically the guy who knows stuff and uses it in combat (and dabbles in a little magic), but the monster hunter fits that pretty well. My thought was that hunters sometimes get big into really studying their preferred prey (my brother just took up duck hunting, and I have learned more about ducks then I ever wanted).

Oh I love it when some one takes up a new hobby and gets so excited they tell you all about it . More int based classes would be nice I allways though rogues would work well with int

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

I disagree. Look, the revanant should have one goal in mind. Revenge. Or retribution, depending on how you look at it. I can imagine the revenant character helping on side-quests that generally help with the goal, but he would not be just a normal part of the adventuring party.

"Hey guys, we need to help these townpeople fight off the orc invasion."
"Sorry, that doesn't help me get my revenge against the Big Bad."

I can certainly see the revanant character being useful in two circumstances-
1. A campaign built around a single Big Bad (say, a Strahd). Arguably, most actions in the campaign are geared toward the defeat of the Big Bad.
2. The untimely demise of a character, in which case the player could finish whatever mission he was on, or complete a RP arc.

On the other hand, I don't imagine that many good campaigns would result from a revanant character driving campaigns indefinitely. After a while, "No, really, the Big Bad you defeated wasn't the real enemy that you were brought back for, it was ... the NEXT GUY *cue music*" starts to seem more like a bad telenovela.

. . . Thats not too different from an Oath of Vengeance Paladin though.

 

[Istbor]

I take a very different view than some here. I think the article was quite good and fits well in Ravenloft, and other worlds quite nicely.

The Monster Hunter, sounds fun. You have a more focused strategy when fighting specific monsters, and it provided you with tools to track and resist those monsters should they try to get the better of you. It does things the Battle master just cant, because it is not a battle master. I personally love that fighters are getting something more that more attacks and damage.

The rogue is interesting and different. These past rogue sub-classes have been making me really want to play a rogue, something I have not done for a very long time.

The revenant concept is different for 5e. I like it. Sure, there is certainly some strength to it, but they are essentially now players with one track minds. Your former character brought back by sheer force of will, but still less somehow. Not all of it truely returned nor ever will. This would be fun, but I would never do it without talking to the player and having their by in with knowledge that their character is now going to be wholly driven to complete this goal, and really no longer able to be distracted by other worldly wants or needs.

. . . Thats not too different from an Oath of Vengeance Paladin though.

Well, it is different in that the Paladin, likely still has a conscience and wants to help the world at large or is seeking vengeance toward a more broad idea in the world that will always be present. Whereas the Revenant ONLY wants to help the world by completing the one goal that pulled him or her back to the material plane. They want rest, and they can only get it through completing this final quest. A vengeance paladin likely still has a life afterwards. Or better yet, completing that vengeance, is finally free to have a normal life.

 

[Istbor]

Double post accidente!

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[phantomK9]

I have the same objection to the monster hunter that I did to the cavalier and scout in an earlier UA.

I love them conceptually, but they have nothing to really call their own. They're another battle-dice/maneuver-using class, just with fewer or very slightly tweaked options. I'd much prefer that each subclass have something truly unique to them, something you really can't accomplish with the other archetypes of that class.

This.
100% this.

I actually sat down and compared them all to each other and the battle master. The only real difference is the set of powers/abilities gained at 3rd level (with some minor differences at 7th). The more I compared, the more I was disappointed. It is like they came up with one level's worth of abilities and then just copied the Battle Master for the rest.

 

[phantomK9]

I think what may have worked is the idea of Superiority Dice being core to the base fighter. Say you start out with some basic generic maneuvers. Then come level 3. Now you select a subclass and they provide exclusive maneuvers that only that subclass can use. Then as you level in fighter select more generic maneuvers and unlock more of these exclusive maneuvers!

I actually mocked up exactly this a little while back. Maybe I should just post it.....

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Oh I love it when some one takes up a new hobby and gets so excited they tell you all about it . More int based classes would be nice I allways though rogues would work well with int

There would be a lot to be said for a monster hunter rogue (just off the top of my head): 3rd level treat one weapon as magical (but no damage bonus) against fiends, undead, and abberations and knowledge proficiencies related to them; 9th level hunter's mysticism (add contact other planes so you can ask "where is the vampire's coffin?" and make good use of the int score); 13th level can't be detected by divination magic or similar psychic means by fiends, undead, and abberations; and 17th level your sneak attack damage dice becomes a d12 against fiends, undead, and abberations.

 

[The Human Target]

I'm all for the revenant in theory, but that is not well implemented.

Want to be a half-Elf revenant? Sorry!

Monster hunter seems like it should be a ranger thing. As it stands it's just a slightly redone battlemaster.

Inquisitive is alright